<p>My family's financial situation is a mess right now. My mother is working full time to support us while my father was forced to retire due to a medical emergency (he has a brain tumor and is unable to function like he normally used to.) He retired from the military with 100% disability.</p>
<p>This has been really stressful for me trying to decide which colleges I should apply for based on the aid they give. When I apply for FAFSA, what do schools look for? Taxed income or untaxed income?
For taxed income, my mother only makes 36,000 a year.
In untaxed income, my father receives about 90,000 or so from VA disability pay and retirement income.</p>
<p>Obviously my parents will be unable to pay for anything when I go to college. They are still paying off our house and cars, and I have a brother who is currently in college and a sister who will be in college right after me. What really matters to colleges when they are taking my financial aid into consideration? The total income?</p>
<p>Obviously my parents will be unable to pay for anything when I go to college</p>
<p>Why is that? </p>
<p>Your parents have a high income. I realize that your dad’s situation is sad, but he’s being well compensated tax free (which is equivalent to a MUCH higher income). </p>
<p>Your parents’ income is about $125k, but really it’s about $150k or more because your dad’s income isn’t taxed. </p>
<p>Yes, colleges will consider the total income. Again, while your dad’s situation is a serious issue, he’s being well compensated. And, I’m guessing that the military is also paying for his medical expenses. So, his situation isn’t one where a parent can’t work, must pay high med expenses, and loses all/most income.</p>
<p>You’re looking at this wrong. Your mom isn’t “working full time to support you” in the normal sense. Her income is just a fraction of your family’s income. Your dad’s high income plus your mom’s income is supporting the family.</p>
<p>Are your parents saying that they can’t contribute at any money at all for any of their kids’ college? How is your sibling paying for college?</p>
<p>Untaxed income is “hit hard” in the aid formulas because normal work-related deductions aren’t occurring. </p>
<p>What is your sibling’s EFC?</p>
<p>You may need to look at schools that will give you large merit for your stats.</p>
<p>That’s what they keep telling me. My dad is saving the GI bill and other money to be able to go back to school if his health ever gets better to become a teacher. The military is paying for some of our expenses but our medical costs are higher with a different healthcare plan now that my dad is retired (or something like that.)
My brother goes to community college to avoid the costs of a university but they know with me that won’t be the case. Maybe they’re not telling me everything? They seem to get a little offended, or tense, when I try to talk to them about tuition. Also, I don’t really know how to explain it, but my parents are really, really religious people who donate 10% of all income to the church that they belong to, so that sort of takes out a huge chunk.
And they keep telling me they’re saving a lot of money just in case something horrible happens health-wise or job-wise, like my mom being laid off. They run a pretty tight budget.</p>
<p>I guess this gives me a better idea of what to expect.</p>
<p>Are you LDS? IF so, then maybe BYU? It’s very low price for members.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>sounds like your parents don’t want to pay anything for college, so you’re either going to have to find schools that will give you huge merit, join the military, or commute locally.</p>
<p>Why can’t you also go to community college for two years to help your family save money? If finances are a significant consideration, this should be considered. Your brother is doing this to help with family finances. Perhaps this is something you should consider as well.</p>
<p>For need based aid, I’m not sure untaxed disability is included on the FAFSA. Someone here will know that answer. </p>
<p>How good are your SAT scores and GPA? Perhaps you would be eligible for some merit aid.</p>
<p>If your parents really cannot contribute to any of your college costs, you really DO need to consider that community college option. It would likely be affordable with a Direct Loan, commuting from home, and your earnings from summer work.</p>
<p>I have a 4.05 GPA. I’m in the top 5% of my class. My test scores aren’t that great- 1850 first try on the SAT. Retaking it this weekend, and if my practice tests are any indication, I think I will do much better. I got a 720 on my SAT II for US history and am taking more this November. By the time I am done with my senior year I will have taken 8 APs, which is competitive but not super competitive. 5s on all my tests so far.</p>
<p>The thing is I would never, ever go to BYU. I can’t picture myself there and I would be miserable every moment of it. I’d prefer colleges with a more liberal atmosphere (which is pretty much any nonreligious school, actually. My parents and I are completely different people.) I’m in Virginia. I have a lot of amazing in-state schools to choose from but I’m worried I won’t get into W&M or UVA.</p>
<p>There is also a reason, besides financial aid, that my brother is going to community college instead of the local university. He has Asperger’s and wanted to start out slow.</p>
<p>What in-State schools are you applying to? Are any of them commuting distance from home? </p>
<p>The CCs in Virginia have articulation agreements with VA 4-year universities. Are you also looking at the CC to 4-year in-state school options?</p>
<p>What is your current CR & M score on SAT? Many schools will not look consider the writing portion.</p>
<p>Are there also schools on your list where you can get high merit for your stats?</p>
<p>UVA and W & M are, of course, terrific schools! But there are other wonderful in state schools as well. Some of which may consider you for merit aid. </p>
<p>Some of the merit scholarships at schools require an earlier application and a separate application. These deadlines are often between November 1 and December 15.</p>
<p>Your stats grades, class rank, and ECs are strong (as posted on another thread). These may help you to be in the game for competitive scholarships. Look at the Dingledine at James Madison – <a href=“Dingledine-Bluestone Scholarship - JMU”>Dingledine-Bluestone Scholarship - JMU; – You have done well while dealing with stress at home. Talk with your family, and see what their thoughts are. Sorry about your dad. All the best!</p>
<p>Mthompson, I am sorry about your dad, and it’s a stressful , heart ache, I know. Sit down with your mother and let her know that you want to see what you can expect in terms of finacial aid for college. If your family has had unusual expenses due to your father’s medical condition, it’s time to start gathering all of those records, so that you can have them to show to fin aid directors and some of that may come into consideration for financial aid. Also run your family numbers through sample EFC calculators and NPCs for schools in your state and find out what your family will be expected to pay before any appeal for medical expenses can be made. </p>
<p>Yes, you do have some good in state choices. You need to find a few schools that you know will take you and that are affordable. It might be a wise move to commute initially, if not to a CC, to a local state school to save some money. THough you may not like the idea, it’s what most students do. Also consider working to earn some money to help out.</p>
<p>My son put his nose up at any options to commute and turned down a local school where he could have gone for free had he commuted as he got a full tuition award. Went away to an OOS school instead, and now a few years older and wiser, has said that he did not give that option enough consideration. Lots of his friends did this and are doing very well, and enjoying being around here , even commuting. He could have saved a lot of money instead of having to watch every cent as he picked a school right at the max to what we could afford and he has to pitch in financially too. Old high school chums talking about going to the World Cup, on vacation to the Bahamas, and he has to work as much as he can. There are trade offs. Also, he would have had some great options at that school that are ever so competitive at the where he is. Sometimes being a big fish in a smaller pond has its advantages when feeding time comes. He has to stand in line and apply for just about everything and it’s very competitive. So do consider all of this.</p>
<p>It sounds incredibly snooty, I know, but it just breaks my heart to even consider community college as I’ve given school my absolute everything and worked my butt off every day to accomplish what I have.
I have a lot to think about.</p>
<p>I guess you have to think about priorities. It broke my heart, and yes, I felt it break when my father was dxed with cancer, and had it been college time, I would have gone locally, and done what I could have done to relieve him of whatever stresses I could. Not much one can do when just starting college, but going to a local state school and cutting down on expenses is a big stress reliever rather than costing money when things are tight and having to consider loans. So snooty, is not the concern here’ it’s what your priorities are.</p>
<p>Some years ago, my oldest son’s peer, a young woman I knew who had applied to a number of highly selective colleges, including ED to one, was accepted, and then her father was dxed wtih multiple myeloma and needed a bone marrow transplant. She asked to be released from that commitment and stayed local for her undergraduate years, something she never regrets doing. Her father died right around the last year. Since then , she’s gone to graduate school at top schools, traveled and done a lot fo thing, but she is grateful for the time she had with her father. Some things you can’t do later, some you can.</p>
<p>Take a long, hard look at the community colleges within commuting distance. VA has some excellent community colleges. Even the ones that aren’t quite so well known have articulation agreements with the public Us in VA that will guarantee admission after two years. Chances are that your CC will give you lots of credit for those AP exams, and for CLEP exams as well. You may be able to zip through the requirements for an AA or AS that guarantee the transfer in much less than two years.</p>
<p>Your real problem isn’t whether you’ll get into UVA or W and M. Your problem is that your family won’t pay its EFC.</p>
<p>Both of those schools will likely expect you to be full pay or near full pay. </p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like your dad’s medical expenses would reach the threshold for consideration. He’s gone from totally free healthcare to having to contribute towards a plan…which is what the rest of civilians do. For special consideration, the extra expenses would have to be in excess of a percent of the family income. And, the consideration is pennies on the dollar.</p>
<p>I don’t see how schools will give your parents a break when they learn that instead of funding college, they’ll giving 13k per year to their church. That’s considered a choice. </p>
<p>Even if a school gave some consideration, your parents will still have a good sized family contribution expected. Your family’s income is high, and much is untaxed. </p>
<p>The fact that your parents get tense or annoyed when you talk about paying for college suggests to me that they have no intention of paying any/much for college. So, if a school said that you have to pay $20k per year, you won’t be able to pay that. You won’t be able to borrow that much. You can only borrow $5500 for freshman year.</p>
<p>Hopefully, your test scores will greatly improve. Sign up for the Dec test as well. Sounds like you’re going to need nearly a full ride in order to pay for college.</p>
<p>And even though your dad now has to contribute towards his medical plan, it is probably still MUCH less than civilians have to contribute (any $ after free seems like a lot, but it’s all relative). </p>
<p>You say your mom makes $36,000 in “taxed income.” Does she also have untaxed income? Does she own a business?</p>
<p>If you’ve gotten 5s on your APs (how many have you already taken, if there will be 8 total AP exams by the end of senior year?), you should be able to bring up your SAT scores. Have you considered a SAT improvement course? (If you are motivated, there is a method developed by someone who posts on this site which is wonderful and it is free to learn.) </p>
<p>Lots of kids on this site say it “breaks their heart” (and often parents say this, too!) to have to attend a community college. But VA appears to have a fine CC system, so that is a good option for you.</p>
<p>It is parental choice to give 10% of their income to charity (is that 10% of all income, taxed and untaxed?). But realize that they will be doing it to your detriment. They are choosing charity over child.</p>
<p>I also agree that it’s their choice to contribute enough to charity that your tuition could be covered, yet expect taxpayers to provide you with an education that they choose not to do. </p>
<p>I guess you’ll just have to go somewhere where you can get merit aid.</p>
<p>Re: medical expenses…my understanding is that colleges will consider a special circumstances review if UNREIMBURSED TREATMENT costs are very high. I do not believe they consider payment of a cost share for health insurance to be a special circumstance. Most folks have a cost share for insurance.</p>
<p>So…if your family is paying out of pocket, without reimbursement or coverage from your insurance, for your dad’s treatments, that would be one thing. Cost share of premiums…another issue altogether.</p>
<p>Do you happen to know the breakdown between your dad’s pension and his disability? I’m really not 100% positive, but it is possible that the disability portion of your dad’s money is not included on the FAFSA. That is worth checking if that number is substantial. </p>
<p>You are extraordinarily fortunate that you live in Virginia. The public universities are terrific, with many choices available to you. For the top merit awards at other schools (and even some in VA publics) you need to increase that SAT score or ACT. But even with that, I would think a school like Old Dominion would be financially possible, and don’t they have an honors college?</p>
<p>If your total parent income does come to $130,000 a year, it is likely that colleges will compute a family contribution between $30,000 and $40,000 a year for your family. If you have siblings in college AT THE SAME TIME as you, this would just about be divided between you. Still, that seems like a lot of money for a family with an unsure financial future, and I’m guessing that is what your parents are concerned about.</p>
<p>OP, you have worked very hard in high school, and it’s clear you value education and care about your college experience. You are not snooty; you have a right to feel disappointed about how your options look compared to what you imagined for yourself. The posters on this thread are super knowledgeable (and also compassionate) and I’m sure they will help you work out some potential plans and prospects for next year. I had two little ideas to throw into the mix. One, what about Deep Springs for 2 years and then see where you are after that? It’s free, a fantastic education and character building I don’t know whether that would appeal to you at all but you might be in a position to qualify for merit aid when transferring to a 4 year college after 2 years there; it’s a rigorous program, but not for everyone! There are other tuition free schools that range from Berea on the conservative end to Antioch on the…other end.
The other idea is to talk to your parents about a loan. You say they have saved a lot of money which they want to save for an unforeseen calamity or the chance that your father could go back to school. Their sizable income plus assets is making it impossible for you to get FA and they won’t make the contribution that colleges expect from a family with that income. Perhaps a way they would be willing to help would be an interest free loan to expand your options to an in-state public university or another affordable institution. That might be too stressful to consider given how tense you say the money conversations have been, and maybe you don’t want that much debt…but maybe worth a thought. I hope they see how much a great education for you will benefit everyone in the family.
But in the meantime study study study for those SAT’s. I have a kid who’s writing her own ticket, completely, won’t ever need a penny for college from me bc of her grades and scores (and recommendations, and interviews and essays – the whole package in her case but you can get automatic merit just for the right numbers!) With the right stats, doors really do open, and you already have high SAT IIs and AP’s so you can do it!. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>CTTC, she has no untaxed income and she does not own a business. What is the free SAT course you mentioned?</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who has responded. Honeybee63, I feel a little better now. I’m meeting with my counselor this week to talk about scholarships.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I was SUPPOSED to take the SAT yesterday and had such a good feeling about it too. After the essay section and the first reading section my test center experienced a blackout. Sucks right… It lasted an hour so the Collegeboard cancelled our scores and rescheduled a make up Oct. 19th…</p>
<p>OP: are you aware that in many cases the GI Bill is transferable to family members? I know that you wrote that your father is saving his GI Bill benefits in the event that he’s healthy enough to go back to school to become a teacher, but if your father has qualified for full GI Bill benefits and can transfer the benefit to you, you could conceivably get a full ride at any in state public school. And under the Yellow Ribbon program, many private schools will make up the difference between their cost and what the GI Bill will pay.</p>
I don’t know whether that would appeal to you at all but you might be in a position to qualify for merit aid when transferring to a 4 year college after 2 years there; it’s a rigorous program, but not for everyone! There are other tuition free schools that range from Berea on the conservative end to Antioch on the…other end.